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Soccer Australia under financial scrutiny

AM - Saturday, 24 May , 2003 08:24:10

Reporter: Ross Solly

HAMISH ROBERTSON: The Australian Sports Commission has demanded access to the financial records of Soccer Australia, amid allegations of mismanagement.

The Commission is concerned that soccer will again be run at a deficit this year, despite several large sponsorship deals in recent months.

Soccer Australia is currently being run by three Directors who are refusing to resign.

Ross Solly reports.

ROSS SOLLY: Six weeks ago the government-appointed Crawford Commission delivered its report, calling on the entire Board of Soccer Australia to step aside, to be replaced by a hand-picked Board headed by businessman, Frank Lowy. It felt this was the only way to save the game in Australia.

Most of the Board has gone, except for three. Adelaide businessman, Les Avery, is now Acting Chairman, and he's indicated he and his colleagues won't step aside without a fight.

Mr Avery believes the Australian Sports Commission has it in for soccer.

LES AVERY: It's been a gross abuse of office. It was an independent report into a sport that we were happy with, but we've been excluded from.

ROSS SOLLY: Australian Sports Commission Chief Executive, Mark Peters, says Mr Avery's comments are nonsense, and it's the stakeholders who want a new Board and a new direction.

A meeting's been called for the 14th of June, where Les Avery, Paul Afkos and Dominic Galati will be expected to step aside and hand over the sport to Frank Lowy.

But it's getting messy. In recent days the Sports Commission's heard whispers Soccer Australia's not travelling too well financially, that some of the money the sport's supposed to have attracted in recent months from sponsors has already gone.

Mark Peters wants answers.

MARK PETERS: The latest information that we have, and we assume it's out there with the states, is that they're going to run at a deficit again this year, and there are questions being raised by some about have sponsorship monies been used this year, rather than been allocated against the next few years.

So we've asked Soccer Australia if we can sit down with them and go through their books, and they can open up their contracts so we can have confidence that in moving forward their finances are in order.

ROSS SOLLY: Are you concerned that maybe something untoward has taken place?

MARK PETERS: Well, it's hard for me to say. We're not privy to their books. We're not privy to the contracts. We just know what they have advised us in the last week, when my staff met with them. This is their management.

ROSS SOLLY: Right. Does that surprise you, that their financial position is once again looking a little bit dire?

MARK PETERS: No. I think there's been a lot of hype about the things that have been done, but some of those are contracts that should have been in place anyway.

ROSS SOLLY: So are you saying that some of these claims of sponsorship deals that they've been trumpeting in recent times, may not exist or may not be as rosy as they said they are?

MARK PETER: Oh, again, there's a lot of rumour around. I donít really want to go into that. All I know is that they are going to run at a deficit, according to their management as of last week, and we just want to make sure that they're funding into 2003-4, which would be supplemented by our two-odd million dollars, is actually going to allow things to be done.